Surgical drapes with fenestrations are well-known in the art. In the past, hospitals had to stock many different large size surgical drapes, such as approximately 6'.times.10' in size, which had different sizes and shapes of fenestrations. The size and shape of the fenestration was dictated by the particular surgical procedure to be performed. Also, most surgical drapes were made out of a single material so that any liquid repellency, biocidal treatment, etc. needed adjacent the fenestration had to be performed over the entire drape. This caused problems in adding to the cost of the drape, plus making the outer portions of the huge drape stiffer and more paper-like because of the liquid repellent treatment. It is desirable to have portions of a surgical drape that are removed from the proximity of the surgical wound to be softer and more drapeable and cloth-like for conforming to other portions of the patient's body and draping from the operating table.
This invention overcomes the above problems by providing a new method of draping a surgical patient. This method includes taking a small bottom drape and securing this bottom drape to a patient. A much larger top drape having an opening smaller than the bottom drape is superimposed on the bottom drape and secured in fixed relationship to the bottom drape. The bottom drape can have the desired size and shape of fenestration, have a high degree of liquid repellency, biocidal treatment, etc. The top drape can be of a softer, more drapeable material that is less liquid repellent than the bottom sheet.